In this post we tear apart my first memoir and find the secret sauce (or not) with a W chart, value chart, and a rework of a better W chart. Plus five steps for doing this with your own work.
Okay. I read Blackbird earlier this year right before I took the Bones Of Storytelling class (you know, a little bit of background research on my professor 😉). After finishing it, I felt... confused. I didn’t want to admit this because it would’ve, a) exposed my insecurities about my reading comprehension, and/or 2) make me look or feel like an arrogant/conceited ass. Haha! I just thought, after putting the book down, what just happened and why did she leave me hanging like that? I wanted to know so much more about the grandfather and that whole situation. Anyway, this is all to say that I feel validated now that I don’t have a reading comprehension issue and it wasn’t just me feeling something was a little ‘off’ about the ending. I would’ve never been able to articulate it, though, and I am beyond grateful for this series! Wow! How incredibly helpful it is to read this example and have my hand held through the process of the secret sauce making. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing this! (I know, ultimate brown-noser over here, but it’s true- this is invaluable information and I am beyond grateful to receive it). 😇🙏
Thank you for sharing this...that feeling...that "wth" feeling is what you're after and you listened to it. You couldn't say anything to me either, right? Because I could have been all..."What?? I don't know what you mean!!"
I think a writer who has the guts to inquire about their own work a la Morrison is a "working" writer. Meaning there is always work to do in this art form. We are always, always growing.
Well, I'm a bit behind ... have taken a short'ish respite, mowed the lawn for the last time, cleaned the flower beds for winter, washed windows and did some deep cleaning. All the while ... thinking about writing but not actually writing. I'm committed to get back to my regular writing routine next week and will begin with a review of the 'Secret Sauce' and a serious reading of 'Story'.
Thanks again for your continued effort to bring what you've learned to share with us.
Okay. I read Blackbird earlier this year right before I took the Bones Of Storytelling class (you know, a little bit of background research on my professor 😉). After finishing it, I felt... confused. I didn’t want to admit this because it would’ve, a) exposed my insecurities about my reading comprehension, and/or 2) make me look or feel like an arrogant/conceited ass. Haha! I just thought, after putting the book down, what just happened and why did she leave me hanging like that? I wanted to know so much more about the grandfather and that whole situation. Anyway, this is all to say that I feel validated now that I don’t have a reading comprehension issue and it wasn’t just me feeling something was a little ‘off’ about the ending. I would’ve never been able to articulate it, though, and I am beyond grateful for this series! Wow! How incredibly helpful it is to read this example and have my hand held through the process of the secret sauce making. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing this! (I know, ultimate brown-noser over here, but it’s true- this is invaluable information and I am beyond grateful to receive it). 😇🙏
Thank you for sharing this...that feeling...that "wth" feeling is what you're after and you listened to it. You couldn't say anything to me either, right? Because I could have been all..."What?? I don't know what you mean!!"
I think a writer who has the guts to inquire about their own work a la Morrison is a "working" writer. Meaning there is always work to do in this art form. We are always, always growing.
Well, I'm a bit behind ... have taken a short'ish respite, mowed the lawn for the last time, cleaned the flower beds for winter, washed windows and did some deep cleaning. All the while ... thinking about writing but not actually writing. I'm committed to get back to my regular writing routine next week and will begin with a review of the 'Secret Sauce' and a serious reading of 'Story'.
Thanks again for your continued effort to bring what you've learned to share with us.
Go girl!